


Push and Pull

by Hawkguys_and_Coffee



Series: Inktober 2020 [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (He's the speaker), Avatar fic yay!, Canon Compliant, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Gen, Hahn is in this for a bit but he's not actually named, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Ikki is only a baby, Inktober 2020, Jinora and Sokka are the greatest, Jinora is only five but she’s already a Big Sister, This fic is a bit rushed, Writing uses ink too, Written a but rushed since it's already 11:50pm, Yue is not forgotten, no beta we die like men, sorry bout that, tm - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26769070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkguys_and_Coffee/pseuds/Hawkguys_and_Coffee
Summary: Jinora had only been to the North Pole a handful of times.The first was when she was barely five years old, on the Day of Blue Moon: the day that, at the time, was the 64th anniversary of the day her grandfather saved the Water Tribe.  It was also the day that the legendary Princess Yue was said to watch over her people and bring them hope.Prompt: Fish
Relationships: Ikki & Jinora (Avatar), Pema/Tenzin (Avatar), Sokka & Jinora (Avatar)
Series: Inktober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951333
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Push and Pull

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back and getting into writing again!!!! I've already written a bit more for Sing of Our Forgotten Dreams to get back into the rhythm of creativity. I know, I know, it hasn't been updated for about a year but I haven't forgotten it!!
> 
> Anyways, Jinora is honestly one of my favorite characters from LOK and she deserves a fic.

Jinora had only been to the North Pole a handful of times. The first was when she was barely five years old, on the Day of Blue Moon: the day that, at the time, was the 65th anniversary of the day her grandfather saved the Water Tribe. It was also the day that the legendary Princess Yue was said to watch over her people and bring them hope.

“ What’s taking so long, Daddy?” Jinora asked as she stumbled at her father’s side, clutching his robes so she couldn’t get lost. The snow was nearly to her knees but she refused help. After all, she was a big sister now and had to prove that she could do thinks on her own.

It was cold here, colder than she had ever imagined it could be. Daddy said she hadn’t mastered proper breathing yet so she couldn’t get cold, but Jinora had deemed it an impossible feat after two weeks of trying. How on earth could air bending make you warm?

“We’re almost there. Uncle Sokka said he’d meet us at the docks, remember?” He stroked his beard and grasped her hand. It was warm like the summer sun on their island.

“Knowing your uncle, he’ll probably be late,” Mama said. Jinora looked up at her with wide eyes.

“But he can’t be late! He said that he’d meet us!”

“Don’t worry about it. Sokka wouldn’t miss this day for the world.”

Jinora scrunched up her eyebrows in thought, a giddy excitement stirring in the pit of her stomach. “Do you think we’ll see the spirit princess? She’s in the stories Gran-Gran told me! Is it true she really knew her? Do you think they were friends? Did—”

Before she could continue, Jinora was interrupted by the baby crying. No, not the baby, she reminded herself. Ikki. The newest member of the family who was only a few months old.

“There, there,” Her mama said, gently cradling Ikki to her chest. Jinora stood on the tips of her toes to get a good look at her little sister, train of thought lost as easily as it was found. To her disgust, the baby was crying and red-faced, hardly like the pictures she had seen in her books. Weren’t babies supposed to be cute? To Jinora, Ikki was just loud and annoying. She’d wail during the middle of the night and wake her up. She’d throw food and cry. She’d get all the attention from Mama and Daddy and, though Jinora knew it was because Ikki was little, she still felt saddened by it. Being a big sister was so much more work than she thought it would be.

By the time Ikki had calmed down to short sniffles, Uncle Sokka had come into their view. “There he is! There he is!” Jinora cried, running (and only stumbling in the snow a few times) into the arms of her uncle.

“Hey, kiddo,” Uncle Sokka said in his kind voice. He was dressed in his thick fur-lined jacket and his boomerang was strapped to his back. As much as Jinora had begged, Uncle Sokka said she couldn’t learn how to throw it until she was older. Uncle Bumi, on the other hand, took much less convincing and regularly took her on ‘field trips’ where he’d bring her to the forest to practice her aim.

“Don’t! Don’t!” Jinora called out, patting her hair down with a huff. “You’re ruining my bun!”

“My apologies,” He laughed. Uncle Sokka hugged Daddy and Mama and gave a little kiss to baby Ikki.

“It’s good to see you again, Uncle,” Tenzin said.

“Ah, well, it’s good to be seen!” Even at her young age, Jinora could see a certain sadness in her uncle’s eyes. His hair, now with only a few highlights of brown, seemed limper and his eyes didn’t seem as cheery. Uncle Sokka’s smile, once so contagious, didn’t quite reach the corners of his eyes like they used to. Jinora didn’t say it, but she knew it was because Tita Suki had died barely a month ago. It made her sad to think about. Uncle Sokka and Tita Suki were some of the greatest people she knew, and, even though they didn’t have kids, they were extra nice to her and baby Ikki.

“Let’s get a move on then, huh? The moon’s about to rise and we can’t miss the ceremony!” Uncle Sokka scooped up Jinora and placed her on his shoulders while she descended in a fit of giggles. She rested her chin on his head and smiled at the higher view. Even though Daddy said Uncle Sokka was getting older, he was still very strong.

The trip through the city was stunning. There were whole buildings made only of ice! And streams! There were streams instead of roads! Jinora openly gaped at the city surrounding her. Who knew such a wonder could exist?

“You see that corner over there?” Uncle Sokka asked, pointing to where a few people were chatting. “I fell in there once! Boy, it was the coldest thing ever!” Jinora laughed.

“Did people see you?”

“Oh sure! I was like a fish outta water. I’m lucky I got inside before my clothes froze to me! Oh wait, wait: that reminds me. I have a joke!”

Jinora leaned forwards eagerly while Daddy sighed. For some reason, he never laughed at Uncle Sokka’s jokes. “Alright, alright. What do fish sleep on?” “I dunno.” “A water bed. Get it? Water!”

Uncle Sokka laughed and Jinora couldn’t help but joining in. Mama laughed too, but it was more quiet. Daddy said that Uncle Sokka and Uncle Bumi had the humor of a little boys, and, since Jinora figured it was true, she hoped she could get a little brother to tell her funny jokes like her uncles did.

Jinora leaned closer to Uncle Sokka and soaked up his warmth. He had taken off his fur parka to cover the two of them and the temperature was just right. She buried her red nose and cheeks into his chest as he laughed heartedly, a smile creeping onto her face at the familiar smell of salt water and smoke.

A few jokes later, the little rowboat slowed down to a crawl and Jinora dug her face out of the warm recesses of the jacket. The cold air hit her in the face and she pressed herself back into Uncle Sokka's jackets.

“Don’t worry, dear. It won’t be cold for long,” Mama said as Daddy helped her and baby Ikki out of the boat. Uncle Sokka made a show of trying to toss her over the water but in the end set her gently down on the hard-packed snow of the capitol.

“Now we get to go through a tunnel!” Jinora yelled excitedly, jumping up and down and pointing to the wooden hatch in the wall. Gran-Gran had told her fairy tales about the tunnel at the tip of the world that led to a warm and pretty garden.

“Oh, not just any tunnel. It’s a secret tunnel!” Uncle Sokka gestured wildly to the hatch and began humming a tune under his breath. The two crawled in and he lifted Jinora onto his shoulders once more, swaying to his tune. “Two lovers, forbidden from one another, a war divides their people.” Uncle Sokka’s voice grew quiet as his eyes wandered around the tall, icy walls that surrounded the oasis. His voice dropped down to a near whisper and he shut his eyes. “And a mountain divides them apart...”

“Welcome, members of the Southern Water Tribe,” A stern voice said. A man, about Uncle Sokka’s age, was standing rim-rod straight at the edge of the pool facing them. His face had a prominent and squared jaw and his eyes were slanted slightly. Jinora leaned forwards from her spot on Uncle Sokka’s shoulders to get a better look.

“May the spirits bless us and guide us,” The man said.

“For we shall forever honor their duties,” The group of people chanted back. Jinora just mumbled the words since she didn’t know a whole lot on Water Tribe cultures yet.

“Today is Day of Blue Moon. We come here to remember the great sacrifice made by Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. On this day, sixty-five years ago, the Fire Nation attacked and Zhao the Terrible slayed the moon spirit. A battle raged on for a day and a night with no spirit in the sky to guide us. People were slain by the Fire Nation and benders were powerless to fight back. La became restless and unbalanced and the sky turned red…”

The speaker continued on and Jinora listened intently. She loved the bedtime stories that Gran-Gran told of her adventures during the hundred years’ war. This one, though, had always been her favorite. The speaker talked of the great sacrifice made by the princess, one that gave them back the moon with the price of her life. Uncle Sokka put Jinora down nearing the end of the ceremony to talk to an old friend. Daddy and Mama were talking with Gran-Gran, so Jinora skipped along to the edge of the pond. Not many people were left by this time, and she was the only kid (save baby Ikki) left.

She crouched down at the edge of the pond. Two koi fish danced in a circle, tails swishing and water rippling. It looked pretty to Jinora. Other-worldly. Carefully, she reached out and let her fingertips skim the water. Warmth immediately flowed from her arm to her chest, almost like the wind she’d been learning to bend.

“You know, you shouldn’t do that.” Jinora yelped and jerked her hand back from the water as if it were fire.

“Sorry!” She said, wiping her hands on her pants. “I couldn’t help it! It just felt so… spirit-y.”

The young girl squinted when she realized she hadn’t seen where the voice had come from.

“Hello?” Then her eyes found it. There, sitting near a tree, was a pretty teenage girl in a flowing white robe. Her feet were bare and her white hair tumbled over her shoulders. She looked… almost sad.

“What are you doing here?” Jinora asked, taking a seat across from the girl in the light of the moon.

The girl smiled. It was bright and kind, much like Mama’s. “I’m paying my respects.”

“To the moon princess?”

“To a few old friends, Jinora.”

Jinora hummed and leaned back, arms holding her weight on the soft grass. Her eyes looked over the teenage girl. She had dark skin much like Gran-Gran’s and her hair was even white! How could someone so young have hair so white? Then again, Auntie Kya had white hair and she was only a few years younger than Daddy. Yes, Jinora decided. This girl must just have changed her hair color young like Auntie Kya.

“It’s really pretty here!” Jinora gushed, a smile making its way back onto her face. “Gran-Gran said she went here when she was little and it’s to pretty! All the trees and the flowers: I love them!” The teenage girl laughed. “Also, did you know that my Gran-Gran, Grandpa, _and_ Uncle Sokka knew the moon princess! They say she was really kinda and pretty and—” 

"Jinora, honey, it’s time to back to Gran-Gran’s!” Mama called.

With a sigh, Jinora turned and looked at her parents. “Alright,” She said to the teenage girl.

“I have to go now. Oh! Maybe you could meet my Mama and Daddy! You’d like them a lot since--” She snapped her mouth abruptly when she finally brought her attention back to the girl. She was gone. “Hello?” Jinora called out, standing up to search for her. “Hello? Where’d you go?”

The girl must have left when she was talking to Mama. Had she gone back to her own family? With a shrug of her shoulders, Jinora ran back to Uncle Sokka and hugged his leg, eager to tell him about the new friend she had made and could she please please please play with her later?

“What friend did you make? I hope it wasn’t a boy!” Uncle Sokka laughed, poking her accusingly in the stomach.

“No silly!” Jinora giggled and swatted away his hand. “It was a girl sitting by the tree! She wore the prettiest white dress and her hair was really long and white and I want to play with her later! She’s really nice and already knew my name! She said she was visiting friends but she left before she could say hi to them, I think.”

A funny emotion crossed Uncle Sokka’s face so quickly Jinora couldn’t catch it. He cleared his throat and knelt down to her height.

“Well, that’s great, Jinora. Now, what do you say about getting some dried seal jerky?”

“Hmmm. Okay, but only if it’s vegetarian!”

At that, Uncle Sokka began to laugh and laugh and laugh, picking Jinora up and swinging her in the air while she screeched and hollered. The two of them left the oasis together, hand in hand, with Mama and Daddy and baby Ikki not far behind. As the crawled out of the hatch, Jinora looked back at the oasis, sending a quick prayer to the spirits to protect her new friend.

That night, the moon shone brighter than ever before.

Here's my Inktober drawing for day one!


End file.
